Burma-Myanmar: Burma army and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) clash in first battle in Kachin State this year
Forces belonging to the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) engaged in their first battle in Kachin State in months in Mohnyin Township this week.
Col Naw Bu, who is in charge of the Kachin Independence Organization’s information department, told NMG that there had been no fighting in the state or around nine months, but that it reignited in the second week of October.
“I heard our forces clashed with the Burma Army in the KIA’s Battalion 5 area… There were no clashes in 2019,” he said, adding that he had not yet received a detailed field report about the fighting.
Battalion 5’s territory is located between the railway and the Irrawaddy River, and reportedly occurred on October 14, according to Naw Bu.
Fighting between the groups in Kachin State had paused since the Burma Army’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire in late 2018. The declaration expired in September.